Kimberly-Clark ready to fight city over mill site

EVERETT — Kimberly-Clark Corp. says it is ready to fight the city in a legal dispute over the company’s former mill site on the waterfront.

Everett filed a lawsuit against the company Monday in Snohomish County Superior Court. The city claims that a permit issued to Kimberly-Clark in 2012 required it to cover the site with topsoil and plant grass after demolition.

The company later issued a statement saying that it “believes it has acted appropriately and complied with all permit requirements in its efforts to safely demolish and remediate the site so it can be effectively marketed and redeveloped in order to bring jobs back to Everett.”

The city and the company have been arguing about covering the site with topsoil since the permit was issued. Everett officials say it will keep dust out of nearby neighborhoods.

Kimberly-Clark disagrees.

“The current covering is superior to soil and grass seed. It is stable, permeable and is performing very well in controlling erosion and sediment run-off. In addition, since the demolition is complete there is no dust emanating from the site,” the company said in its statement.

Requiring topsoil and grass will only make it harder to sell, according to the company.